Top Three Shelter Cleaning Tips

Keeping your shelter clean and disinfected is vital to the health and wellness of the animals in your care. Share these three simple tips with your staff to help ensure sanitary daily operations.

Calculate Your Bleach

When prepared and used correctly, bleach solutions are effective against certain diseases like parvovirus and panleukopemia, and they're an essential tool for general shelter disinfection. For every gallon of water, use ½ cup of bleach (based on a 5.25% bleach solution). Check the bleach label for the concentration, and if the bleach you are using is a different concentration, use our bleach dilution calculator to get the correct ratios.

Wash Your Hands

It may seem basic, but washing your hands is the single most important thing that can be done to reduce infectious disease in a shelter! Be sure to hit the sink or the sanitizer after each animal you touch.

Do The Laundry

Proper laundry protocol is crucial to preventing disease transmission. If you're dealing with parvovirus, panleukopenia, ringworm or other hardy pathogens, consider discarding bedding, towels and soft toys or at minimum, running separate cycles. Remember: When in doubt, throw it out.